Jim Lambie Hot Foam

In Hot Foam, Jim Lambie brings together a newly developed installation of sculptures and paintings, shaped in dialogue with the gallery’s architecture. The themes of material and psychological reflection which occupy the exhibition emerge through Lambie’s reconfiguration of everyday materials, from domestic objects and fashion items to album covers, posters, and salvaged furniture – transforming them into immersive, spatially engaged works. Recognised for his bold chromatic vocabulary and layered references to music, popular culture, art history, and quotidian ritual, Lambie’s practice generates multi-sensory encounters that challenge and reorient the viewer’s perception of space and form.
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
The works unfold across the mirage-like shimmer of Zobop Broadband (White and Chrome) — a new vinyl floor work composed of white and chrome stripes. Its lines trace and mirror the features of the gallery, with their thickness taking a cue from the concrete cover of a power outlet. There is a renewed sensitivity to be found in Lambie’s handling of a range of materials in Hot Foam. Leg/Ladder (Tele – Vision) is a rope ladder composed from twine and second-hand chair legs. However, the scale and delicacy of the twine means it could never actually be scaled, lending the piece an otherworldly aspect. The ethereal glow of the cling film and tape of Gold Love Forever contrasts with the dazzle of the vinyl. The dimensions of its sheets are taken from the gallery’s skylights; Lambie lays the celestial, crumpled, at our feet.
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
The resin-paintings containing sunglasses lenses running along the walls continue the theme of material sensitivity and temporal transportation. Their colour comes not from the resin itself but from light refracted from the painted panels behind. A key touchstone for this series is radical French writer Arthur Rimbaud’s poem Voyelles (1871–72). In this work, Rimbaud associates each vowel of the Roman alphabet with a colour, dedicating his verses to a set of synaesthetic associations. Lambie’s titles begin with specific months in his life – moving across certain dates in the lifespan of the building itself too – and conclude with a fragment of poetry by the artist. While for Lambie the arrangements and titles have specific biographical associations, the various compositions with their overlapping colours remain open to interpretation, and the elegiac titles provide further prompts to reflection.
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
Installation view, 'Hot Foam', The Modern Institute, Osborne Street, Glasgow, 2025
May 1971, Crisp lilac hair glides, through a dust-filled room., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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May 1971, Crisp lilac hair glides, through a dust-filled room., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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February 2007, Deep ocean blue dissolves in salted spray., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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February 2007, Deep ocean blue dissolves in salted spray., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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November 1968, Silver shades of Candy Darling, in cinematic light., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm, 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in

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November 1968, Silver shades of Candy Darling, in cinematic light., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm, 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in

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March 2025, Veiled in haze..., We sail this Velvet Odyssey., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
51 x 51 x 5.5 cm, 20 1/8 x 20 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

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March 2025, Veiled in haze..., We sail this Velvet Odyssey., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
51 x 51 x 5.5 cm, 20 1/8 x 20 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

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Leg/Ladder (Tele-Vision), 2025

Chair legs and twine
694 x 47 x 5 cm, 273 1/4 x 18 1/2 x 2 in

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Leg/Ladder (Tele-Vision), 2025

Chair legs and twine
694 x 47 x 5 cm, 273 1/4 x 18 1/2 x 2 in

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January 2018, Blush light moves across the waters skin., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
51 x 51 x 5.5 cm, 20 1/8 x 20 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

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January 2018, Blush light moves across the waters skin., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
51 x 51 x 5.5 cm, 20 1/8 x 20 1/8 x 2 1/8 in

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August 2012 - Where moss climbs slow, A hush of earth and sheen, In dark..., dark, darkest green., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm, 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in

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August 2012 - Where moss climbs slow, A hush of earth and sheen, In dark..., dark, darkest green., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm, 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in

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April 1986, Grey light drapes a distant glow., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
33 x 33 x 5.5 cm, 13 x 13 x 2 1/8 in

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April 1986, Grey light drapes a distant glow., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
33 x 33 x 5.5 cm, 13 x 13 x 2 1/8 in

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Hot Foam (Totally Wired), 2025

Tabletop, wood, paint, wire
75 x 50 x 63 cm, 29 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 24 3/4 in

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Hot Foam (Totally Wired), 2025

Tabletop, wood, paint, wire
75 x 50 x 63 cm, 29 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 24 3/4 in

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September 2017, A burning yellow, veined in threads of gold., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
33 x 33 x 5.5 cm, 13 x 13 x 2 1/8 in

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September 2017, A burning yellow, veined in threads of gold., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
33 x 33 x 5.5 cm, 13 x 13 x 2 1/8 in

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July 1984, Purple reigns in spiral motion..., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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July 1984, Purple reigns in spiral motion..., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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October 1982, Unfold in deepest wine..., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm, 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in

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October 1982, Unfold in deepest wine..., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
91.5 x 61 x 5.5 cm, 36 x 24 x 2 1/8 in

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December 1972, Crushed velvet flare­ - vibrant blue sole., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
33 x 33 x 5.5 cm, 13 x 13 x 2 1/8 in

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December 1972, Crushed velvet flare­ - vibrant blue sole., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
33 x 33 x 5.5 cm, 13 x 13 x 2 1/8 in

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June 2012, Vibrant red in motion, sings songs for no return., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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June 2012, Vibrant red in motion, sings songs for no return., 2025

Resin, sunglasses lens, birch plywood, paint
60 x 45 x 5.5 cm, 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 2 1/8 in

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Gold Love Forever, 2025

Cling film, tape
Dimensions variable

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Gold Love Forever, 2025

Cling film, tape
Dimensions variable

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Hot Foam (Handbag), 2025

Mixed media
75 x 82 x 20 cm, 29 1/2 x 32 1/4 x 7 7/8 in

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Hot Foam (Handbag), 2025

Mixed media
75 x 82 x 20 cm, 29 1/2 x 32 1/4 x 7 7/8 in

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